Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party set to give Delhi its youngest cabinet

AAP is likely to give Delhi fresh faces in a fairly young cabinet. Apart from 41-year-old Manish Sisodia, who is considered to be the closest aide of Arvind Kejriwal, all cabinet front-runners are relatively unknown faces. The cabinet front-runners

In yet another shift in political demographics, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to give Delhi fresh faces in a fairly young cabinet.

While outgoing Congress ministers have an average age of 63, AAP candidates tipped to be ministers will be, on an average, 35-years-old. In the past, Congress’ Arvinder Singh was the youngest minister to join the cabinet in 2003 at the age of 35.

Apart from 41-year-old Manish Sisodia, who is considered to be the closest aide of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, all cabinet front-runners are relatively unknown faces.

“The popularity of ministers is not important. We want a healthy relationship between the party and the government. The idea is to put in place a mechanism that can efficiently implement our manifesto,” said AAP’s chief strategist, Yogendra Yadav.

Yadav said the road ahead will be challenging since most candidates are first-time ministers. “Since we are running a radical agenda, we want to ensure that we bring in people who share our political spirit and understand government procedures,” he said.

One such candidate is 26-year-old Rakhi Birlaan who has no political experience. With a masters degree in journalism, she used to work as a TV journalist before she joined the anti-corruption bandwagon. A few months later, she won the assembly elections from Mangolpuri after defeating Congress’ Raj Kumar Chauhan by a margin of 10,585 votes.

“It’s a generational shift if you compare us with the average BJP and Congress leader. Young profile benefitted me and the party as a whole,” Birlaan recently told HT.

Saurabh Bhardwaj (34), an engineer who hold a degree in law, defeated BJP’s Ajay Kumar Malhotra by more than 13,000 votes in Greater Kailash. Bhardwaj, who works with a private engineering firm and enjoys social connect, may be another new face among Delhi ministers.

“Angry people voted against price rise and corruption. People were not satisfied with Waliaji because he never listened to their grievances,” said 40-year-old AAP member Vinod Kumar Binny. He defeated Congress minister AK Walia from Laxmi Nagar and has also been elected as an independent councillor twice.

Another start achiever is 39-year-old Somnath Bharti. He holds a degree in law and a masters degree in science from IIT-Delhi. The former president of IIT-Delhi’s alumni association defeated two political heavyweights in Malviya Nagar — BJP’s Arti Mehra and Kiran Walia of Congress.